Following the demerger of its cement business, Larsen & Toubro is working towards selling its INR 1 billion non-core glass business. L&T is currently in negotiations with a number of glass bottle manu…
Following the demerger of its cement business, Larsen & Toubro is working towards selling its INR 1 billion non-core glass business. L&T is currently in negotiations with a number of glass bottle manufacturers to divest its plant at Nashik. “We hope to conclude the sale of the glass business by the end of the current fiscal,” said L&T CEO, A. M. Naik. The disinvestment of the glass business is in line with the company“s plans to abandon non-core businesses, Mr Naik said. The company, which has been reviewing the operations of its non-core commodity businesses, closed down its packaging business earlier in 2003. The company currently manufactures high-quality glass containers for soft drinks, cosmetics, processed foods, pharmaceuticals and liquor at its Nashik plant, which was set up in technical collaboration with Swiss Vetropack. L&T plans to convert itself into a focused engineering company by disposing of commodity businesses including glass and packaging. Apart from cement, the company“s other non-core businesses accounted for only 4% of sales turnover in 2002-2003. The company“s packaging business, which has been shut down, had sales turnover of around INR 2 billion, while the glass business generated revenues of INR 1.04 billion.